LEGION BASEBALL: Post 199 opens District 22 Tourney as top seed

Louie Korac For The Telegraph

Published
6:25 pm CDT, Sunday, July 15, 2018

Alton Legion Post 126 first baseman Adam Stilts (right) acknowledges pitcher Zach Knight after getting the final out of an inning against Jefferson City (Mo.) on June 10 in Ballwin, Missouri. Alton opens the District 22 Tournament on Monday at home.

Alton Legion Post 126 first baseman Adam Stilts (right) acknowledges pitcher Zach Knight after getting the final out of an inning against Jefferson City (Mo.) on June 10 in Ballwin, Missouri. Alton opens the

Alton Legion Post 126 first baseman Adam Stilts (right) acknowledges pitcher Zach Knight after getting the final out of an inning against Jefferson City (Mo.) on June 10 in Ballwin, Missouri. Alton opens the District 22 Tournament on Monday at home.

Alton Legion Post 126 first baseman Adam Stilts (right) acknowledges pitcher Zach Knight after getting the final out of an inning against Jefferson City (Mo.) on June 10 in Ballwin, Missouri. Alton opens the

Ken Schaake was certainly happy to earn the top seed for the American Senior Legion District 22 Tournament that begins on Monday.

But the Edwardsville Post 199 Bears manager is not taking anything for granted.

“I tell the kids being the top seed is great, but once the tournament starts, everybody starts off equal 0-0,” said Schaake, whose team is 22-5 overall and won the District 22 regular-season title at 11-1. “You have to win to continue playing. Regardless of who you’re playing, you can’t take anybody for granted because I’ve seen it in the past that somebody coming from the bottom of the pairings makes a splash in the tournament. You just have to play your game and not worry about anything else.”

The six-team field will compete for the district title, which is expected to run through Thursday barring weather-related issues and crown a champion to advance to the Fifth Division Tournament, which begins either Saturday or Sunday in Aviston.

In opening round games Monday, Edwardsville hosts New Athens at Hoppe Park at 7:30 p.m. Post 199 beat the 76ers twice during the regular season.

“We played them on a Sunday at Hoppe Park earlier this year, and I think [Reid] Hendrickson was pitching for us, and the pitcher that was pitching for them, [Dylan] Neuner, it was a (7-2) ballgame,” Schaake said. “They can hit. If they get the defense and the pitching, things can happen and that’s what I told our kids. Just because you recently beat them by 10 runs (12-0 on July 6), the first game we played them right here and it was a (7-2) ballgame. You cannot take anybody for granted.”

Edwardsville is looking for another deep run after playing in the Great Lakes Regional as both Edwardsville and Metro East in four of the past five seasons (2013, 2015-17) and in search of its sixth trip in program history after winning the World Series in 1998.

Alton, which finished fourth at the Tyler Brennan Memorial Tournament in Danville this past weekend, hosts Valmeyer, which it beat twice in the regular season, at 6 p.m. at Alton High School and Highland will play host to Belleville, which it beat twice in the regular season, at 7 p.m. at Optimist Field inside Glik Park.

Alton, back in Senior Legion action for the first time since 2013, will host the Department of Illinois State Tournament July 28-31 at AHS, so regardless of how far they go, they will be playing at the end of the month competing for a state title but want to earn their way there, like the Bears did as regional hosts in 2015 when they finished second in state.

“We keep telling our guys that we want to earn our way there (to state),” first-year Alton manager Nick Paulda said. “… Any team in our district always has a chance of winning and going on to the division. It’s one of the toughest districts in the whole state, let alone the Midwest. Seeding usually helps when you get a bye, but other than that, anyone can win this district.

“Valmeyer is not a team we can take lightly. So far, we’ve had two pitchers that have been able to shut down their offense well, but we know once their offense turns on, it’s hard to stop.”

Edwardsville has a deep pitching rotation with Hendrickson, Chase Gockel, Brandon Hampton, Andrew Frank, Andrew Yancik, Zach Seavers and Isaac Garrett as starters along with a host that can throw out of the bullpen, and Alton can line up Wesley Laaker, Adam Stilts, Michael Reeder, Bryce Parish and Simon Nguyen who all can get nods to start.

“Pitching and defense. Offense, I think that’s the third thing,” Schaake said. “It all starts with pitching. If you don’t get pitching, then you might as well pack your bags and go home because that’s what gives you the momentum to start with, and defense, you’ve just got to make the normal plays. You don’t have to try and do anything spectacular, but you do need to make the plays that come to you.

“Offense, that’ll usually take care of itself based on the momentum of the defense and the pitching. We’ve just been fortunate that our pitching has been enough to keep us in all the ballgames.”